Libraries that participate in the delivery of the service receive training in the following ways:

Software training

When initially participating, online training will be arranged, to understand and learn to use the QuestionPoint software and give you hands on experience.  Additional authority training can be arranged, but this will be chargeable, please contact support for more details.

Virtual reference training

These are adhoc ‘how to’ virtual reference training session to library representatives that walks through the principals of delivering a virtual reference service, covering issues such as staff competencies; online etiquette and searching tips.  The presentation with tips is available here.  Notices will be posted when additional workshops are run. Again these will be run virtually via the software WebEx.

Administrator training

Authorities nominate a representative to be an Administrator for their authority. Administrators receive additional training to enable them to manage service delivery locally, such as setting up scripts for the authority, creating / editing accounts, emailing/resetting passwords, running reports for local statistics.

Peer training

Peer training gives staff opportunities to hone their virtual reference skills and practice using the software.

After library representatives have their software training there is an expectation that this training is cascaded to other staff locally. Staff can then practice sending and answering questions as part of their training to gain confidence and refine newly acquired skills.

Libraries are also offered opportunities to practice their skills with other library services, where one library asks questions and the other library answers them. Authorities can take turns to be patron or librarian.